I know we have a husqvarna splitting axe thread and seems like a few of us have the maul I would love to hear your thoughts on your experience as well with the maul. So I have been wanting a new splitting maul / axe for some time. I wanted a really high quality tool that will last the rest of my life plus. Needlessto say that I found some really great contenders and I wanticipate to get at least 4 more lol. The first one I got is the Husqvarna splitting maul. My first thoughts are you can tell some corners where cut. However they are easy corrected. Like the handle needed a good sanding and a few coats of linseed oil will do it good. Also the edge was not lined up perfectly. Most can be corrected with a file. It is a bummer to have to put work into a $100 maul but I also like that it was not a $160 and I can bring it up to my standards. The handle actually harrings great grain orientation and density. The steel seems very good as well just by how it felt under the file. I have already sanded the handle and started straightening the edge. I will take the next week oiling it up and then do a rope wrap near the head for some over strike protection. I will update as I go and put this to use and against other mauls and axes.
Well I took My new maul and a couple others today and split most the day. Splitting helps clear my head even if it is 90 degrees and 90% humidity. I can say that comparing the husqvarna to my trusty maul and the fiskars x25 was more interesting then I thought it would be. They each have their strengths. I split some red elm, hickory, and oak. I could feel the extra weight but it was not uncontrollable or uncomfortable, just a little harder to build momentum. But still felt very agile in a sense. The bit design is more functional then I anticipated. It bits really hard and deep. It does stick but nothing a little pop on the handle doesn't free. It also sticks so doing small stuff kindling I could just tap and the wood would stick that I could just hammer it. That worked nice on some stringy knotty hickory but yet the blade was easy to free. I will be using it more and comparing it more but so far it feels good and is functional.
I've had Wetterlings maul indistinguishable from the Husqy one, for years now. Works very well. Just a couple things, though. The steel on the poll side is not that tough- if you pound it much it wil start to mushroom. I got the Wetterlings at a much-reduced price, but could have gotten one branded "Husqvarna" for much less from dealer-bud. Then I saw 6 lb Council Tools maul from Bailey's for $20-something. Wee bit of metal removal near the edge on the Council and it's one of my all-time favorites, and I could have gotten 4+ for the price of the Wetterlings. Live and learn. Anyhow I'll work on wearing them all out. Slowly. My all time favorite is 3 kg Mueller. About 6.6 lb. Excellent steel on both ends. Absolute beast for busting rounds. Goes for $155 though. It'll outlast me. Good Luck.
Well it is almost officially my favorite splitting tools. Here it is busting up a knarly piece of oak. I split an entire oak tree today with it
Just testing this link from googGo photos. To see how it works. Was trying to teach my 10 year old how to split. She is talking the whole time and loud from time to time. Just a warning. After over a year of usr this thing is a beast and my go to to bust through knotty wood. It is a beast. Watch and see. https://photos.app.goo.gl/2iuNGPdfUtJDiGnY7
I could watch it fine. Very satisfying, I like your technique. I would have been getting out the wedges a couple of times for sure. Cute commentary, too!
I never have got in the habit of using wedges. Nothing against them. Guess I am just bull headed enough that it is the challenge to be the destroyer of wood. Lol thank you for watching.
I started out splitting with wedges only, and just started using a Helko maul/splitting axe this year. I don't have the height (5'2") or the mass to be much of a destroyer of anything. So I toggle between the wedges and the maul. Do you split only by hand, or do you have a splitter as well?
I only split by hand. Have ever sense I was a kid. Wish I could hit as fast and hard as I used to. If the round is really nasty I use the chainsaw to noodle it.
If you can still do it at all, you're doing something right! But yes, it's wise to pick your battles. I don't have a splitter either, and I tend to go for the easier to split species of wood.
Yes picking your battles and knowing what is going to take a beating and what is going to crack. I have oak and hickory usually to spliy and that can go wither way depending on a few things. Good straight oak usually splits great. What do u usually burn? Midwinter
Plenty of red oak, various maples, although I'm passing up big red maple rounds because they're pretty tough. Lots of birch, it shows up at the dump regularly. I like ash but don't get much because it hasn't started to die here yet. I'll take skinny dead elm that I don't have to split. I never find any hickory, but I'd snatch it up if I did! I get pretty much apple, but pass up pear. Ill take mulberry. Basswood, tree of heaven, poplar, hemlock for shoulder season. I get a little black and yellow birch, but yellow is pretty tough. I just got a lot of black locust (The Car Hoarding thread). We have ornamental honey locust here but that is really tough! There's cherry too, but I'm not a big fan. Beech occasionally. Since I get a lot of wood at the dump, I see everything that grows around here
I’m a big fan of grabbing wood at the dump to. I like the fact that you simply back right up to it. I found it interesting that you are not a big fan of cherry. Neither am I really. I find it leaves a lot of ash. But it does smell nice when splitting. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
